Community Service

Below are all the donated items to 630th Engineer Company. Wow!! Thank you all!!

The latest letters from 630th Engineer Company:

Hello

This may be a little hard to explain, but currently our Battalion is inIraq and we are falling under a temporary Battalion for support. We arefrom Fort Drum, NY and the 4th Engineers are actually from Fort Carson,Colorado. We conduct Route Clearance here in Afghanistan, we are an allmale unit. Route Clearance basically consist of finding IED's on themain routes and defusing the devices before they hit friendly forces. Iknow a lot of the guys were wondering what we do down here and thatpretty much sums it up. Southern Afghanistan actually looks a lot likethe dessert part of California! It is a complete different world overhere farmers, houses made out of mud, makes you appreciate all thethings we have back in states! Anyways enough of me now, how did youguys enjoy your New Years and Christmas, I hope it went well, I willattach our newer address now because the 4th Engineers are actuallygoing home for good and we have another 6 months to go. Anyways ouraddress is as follows

Rahim K. CharaniaCPL, USA

Hello, wow! We just received the first three boxes today. It would havebeen here a week ago, but due to us moving to another location soanother week went by due to the mail forwarding mail system here inAfghanistan. We were all amazed when we open the boxes, Thank you somuch! We would like to return letters to students who wrote us letters,but since we have moved to a newer location we cannot send out any mailjust yet. This place is practically brand new. There is nothing hereexcept for the basic necessities; for example, showers, chow hall, phoneservices. We are waiting for a post office to open up so we can actuallywrite letters to friends and family. Thank you for the great collectionof DVD's, Italian Job is definitely one of my favorite movies. Hope youguys have a happy new years and we are looking forward to hearing fromyou guys! Thanks much! Also, below is our new address.

Rahim K. CharaniaCPL, USA4th Engineer Battalion630th Engineer Company

Hello,

Sorry I have been out of touch for a while, we have been running aroundin different location and had no time to check my email. We have receiveyour letters and have distributed them among the soldiers. We have movedto another location, below this message will be our new address. Myselfand the rest of the soldiers of the 630th are very great full for thesupport that you guys provide. Thanks! I do not know if we will be ableto reply for a while to the letter; the location we have moved to has nofacilities what so ever. We do not even have enough laundry detergent todo our laundry's yet lol. Anyways we are pretty busy at the moment doingpatrol so that definitely takes our mind of things! Once again thank youfor all your support and below will be our new address. Hope you guyshad a Merry Christmas and Enjoy your New Years :-)

Committee members and assistants are needed! Parents and siblings also welcomed to participate in letter/card writing.

America Supporting Americans began in 1967 when Sergeant Joe Artavia wrote his big sister from Vietnam asking her to do something to help raise the morale of his unit. His sister Linda Patterson who is the founder and continues to be the main source of contact and guidance for communities and organizations to provide support to our military, did just that. She reached out to her hometown to adopt her brothers unit. Believing that the individual soldiers charged with fighting an unpopular war desperately needed to feel the interest and concern of the communities back home. As a result, the morale of Joe's fellow soldiers was, in Joe's own words, "raised as high as the clouds." Tragically, Joe who was just nineteen, was killed in a firefight trying to aid a fallen trooper three weeks after the adoption took place. After Joe's death, Linda traveled to Vietnam to personally deliver medallions her hometown, San Mateo had issued in honor of Joe and the men in his unit. Many of the men carry those medallions to this day.

Having geared up the adoption program again during Desert Storm and now for a third time in the wake of September 11th, ASA has facilitated the adoption of many units by towns and cities across the country. Through these adoptions, both soldiers and civilians are discovering the unique and crucial link that exists between the men and women of our Armed Services and the American citizens they are charged to protect. In times of both war and peace, this strong connection has proved dynamically and richly rewarding to all involved. ASA has, over the years, learned that the greatest benefit is gained when the adoption remains active whether the unit is at home or deployed abroad. There are many ways the two can demonstrate their care and patriotism towards one another. For example, when units are home, they have visited with the community, participating in a variety of events and activities. Traditionally, units deployed abroad count on letters and care packages from adoptive cities to boost morale and help them feel connected to home.

The Dublin Coffman Men's Lacrosse teams will foster the 630th C Company, 7th Engineer Battalion. Currently these troops are in Afghanistan, awaiting to hear from us. Below we have outlined the service project activities and events. Our hope is to have our players give of their time and be able to connect with our Unit, even with a simple letter.

Outline of Service Project

Sunday, November 15, 2009 (Parent/Player Meeting) - Introduction letter/card from each player to be placed in the Patriotic Mailbox. Return address not needed, we will use Coffman High School address, c/o Coach Mark Forsythe, Men's Lacrosse Teams as the return address. If we receive response letters, they will be distributed to those players addressed. We encourage response letters to be shared with the teams, but not mandatory. Additional items that we hope to send to our Unit will be Dublin Coffman Lacrosse items, such as programs, team photos, team poster, etc.

Tuesday, December 8, 2009 - Holiday letter and/or item to contribute to a Care Package. See suggestions for Care Package Items on link:

Monday, January 11, 2010 (Fundraiser kick-off) - Letter/card from each player to be placed in the Patriotic Mailbox. Request a player contribution for a Care Package (suggestion: "use a small portion of that gift card from the holidays to purchase an item for the package") and Mom's can contribute to the Winning Hearts & Minds Beanie Baby collection (see below)

Meet the Team Meeting TBA - Letter/card from each player to be placed in the Patriotic Mailbox.

Saturday, March 20, 2010 (Green & White Game) - Game and Potluck! Team scrimmage, alumni, ASA support kick off with 50/50 raffle to go towards care packages, Silent Auction of donated items from community (i.e. gift certificates, gift baskets, etc), and door prizes will be as "True Treasures" or "White Elephant". (will request such items in January/February) Patriotic Mailbox available for players to include letter/card. More details TBA.

After Team Meal/Care Package Assembly - On occasion, as funds are raised and items purchased, we will organize and assemble care packages after scheduled team meals. Dates TBA

Wednesday, May 5, 2010 - Honor our Armed Forces and our Unit (Armed Forces Day, May 15, 2010) at the Coffman-Scioto Lacrosse game. Media will be notified, including an invitation to Military members. 50/50 to go towards care packages and/or a dedication stone at the Dublin Veterans Park. More details will be announced as the game approaches. http://www.dublin.oh.us/veteranspark/dedicationstones.php

Winning Hearts & Minds - All you Moms who have that box of Beanie Babies , well, here is your chance to pass them along to a Unit for a good cause. A unit from our program (if not ours) can distribute them to civilians and their children. (Provided the unit has clearly confirmed their willingness and ability to engage in such an activity.) A collection of Beanie Babies will be on Monday, January 11th and Meet the Team meeting.

City of Dublin's 2010 4th of July Parade - The opportunity for the teams to walk in the parade in honor of our foster unit, with a banner, etc. Participation and details TBD.

Thursday, January 28, 2010, Streets Mission Project - In addition, One Night Only, on Thursday, January 28, 2010, we invite players and parents to participate in the Streets Mission Project with First Community Church. In years past, the Coffman Lacrosse Team supported this service project and it made such an impact on those participating we feel it is worthy to support and encourage our participation for at least one night. Sign up sheet available. Needed: 6 serving 20 meals and bottle water donations.